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Second Afghan official arrested over corruption charges

Police in Afghanistan have arrested the deputy mayor of the capital Kabul on charges of corruption, just days after his boss was sentenced to four years in prison on similar charges, a senior prosecutor said Sunday.

"He was arrested at 11 am yesterday by police and now he is in our custody," he said.

His arrest came nearly a week after a court convicted Kabul mayor Mir Abdul Ahad Sahebi of awarding a contract without proper competition, and ruled that he be dismissed from office. Sahebi who was sentenced in absentia, was later arrested, and then released on bail pending an appeal.

Faqiryar said that Sadaat, Sahebi and the deputy mayor's secretary allegedly mislead authorities by awarding the contract for the annual lease of a government building to a private sector company for 16,000 dollars less than it is worth.

"The court sentenced Sahebi to four years in prison and the other official to two years, but since Mr Sadaat was not inside the country, his case was not completed," Faqiryar said.

The latest arrest is seen as another step in the first major anti- corruption move by newly-inaugurated President Hamid Karzai, who has vowed to fight endemic corruption in his administration.

Despite the court ruling Sahebi was reportedly back in his office and has described the case against him and his colleagues as "a conspiracy".

On Sunday, Faqiryar said that the court's decisions were valid. "If we freed Mr Sahebi on bail, it was because we were concerned about his poor health condition, not any other reason."

"For us he is found guilty by the primary court, so he should not be running municipality until the appeal court's decision is issued," he said, but could not explain that why the ruling was not enforced yet.

Karzai, who won re-elected in fraud-tainted elections last month, is under massive pressure from Western leaders to crack down on graft.

Last month, the Afghan government launched an anti-corruption unit and assigned a task force to target senior government officials suspected of involvement in rampant corruption.

Karzai was expected to unveil the list of his new cabinet ministers on Wednesday or Thursday.